It is well known that inaccuracies are often introduced in spectrometric analyses by the photoconductive detectors employed, due to nonlinearity between the electrical signal generated and the energy, of the incident radiation. A method and apparatus for correcting such nonlinearity are disclosed in Keens et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,269, issued May 22, 1990. Because it is predicated upon a series of somewhat arbitrary assumptions, however, the technique described by Keens et al is believed to be of only limited utility and value.
Accordingly, it is the broad object of the present invention to provide a highly effective, and yet incomplex, method and system for correcting the electrical signals that are generated by photoconductive detectors, so as to render the output signal substantially linear with respect to the energy of incident radiation.
A more specific object of the invention is to provide such a method and system, which utilize and implement physical principles that underlie photoconductive detector response phenomena.
Another specific object is to provide such a system in which is incorporated a novel analog circuit for linearizing the photoconductive detector signal.
Related objects of the invention are to provide such a method which is facile to utilize, and to provide such a system which is relatively inexpensive to produce.